Another Time, Another Place
by autumnrose2010
Summary: Anne Boleyn thought that it was all over, but as she would soon find out, endings sometimes lead to new beginnings.
1. Waking Up

Having refused the blindfold they had offered her, she took one last look around as she knelt in the straw. She cringed in horror as she watched two servants arrive with a black oblong box, which they sat in the straw nearby. She knew exactly what its intended purpose was. Her eyes met those of the man holding the sword. He became angry and shouted something in French. Someone called her name, and she looked toward them. As the sword's blade met her neck, her final thoughts were of her young daughter.

* * *

><p>She opened her eyes to find that she was lying on her back, staring up at a white ceiling. Peculiar rectangular fixtures which seemed to emit light were affixed to the ceiling. If this was heaven, it was drastically different from the way she had always imagined it to be.<p>

"You're awake!" a male voice exclaimed excitedly. She turned to look into a pair of blue-green eyes. The man had auburn hair and a moustache and goatee. He looked vaguely familiar, but his clothing and hairstyle were very strange.

"Where am I? Is this heaven?"

The man seemed to think that her question was very amusing. "Hardly. You're in the hospital, hon. You fell and hurt your head very badly. You've been asleep for awhile. I've been so worried about you." The man spoke English, but his accent was so strange that she could barely understand his words.

"My head?" She raised both hands to feel the smooth skin of her neck. As she did so, she saw that a needle was inserted into one arm. The needle was attached to what she could only think of as some type of cord made of unfamiliar material. The other end of the cord emerged from a transparent bag of fluid suspended from a pole made of a queer shiny substance. Alarmed, she grasped for the cord to pull it from her arm.

"No, no, hon," the man said gently, moving to prevent her from doing so.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"You don't remember?" the man asked softly. His face bore an expression of grave concern. "My name is Henry, and I'm your husband. We have a little girl."

"Elizabeth?" she asked hopefully.

"You remember her!" Henry sounded greatly relieved.

"She has red hair..."

"That's right. She misses her mommy very much. She'll be so happy to find out that you finally woke up."


	2. Doctors And Questions

"I want my Elizabeth!" She began to sob hysterically.

Henry embraced her and patted her back. "There, there. You'll see her again soon, I promise, but we have to make sure that you're really all right before you can go back home."

"But I feel just fine!" she insisted.

Henry smiled and shook his head. "Anne, you didn't even remember who I am until I told you."

"But I remember Elizabeth! I demand to be allowed to see my daughter right now!"

Henry laughed. "I'm afraid it doesn't work quite like that. The doctor has to release you before you can go back home."

"Release me from what?"

"He has to say that it's all right for you to go home before I can take you there."

"Then I demand to see this doctor right away!"

Henry disappeared and returned a few minutes later with another man. The other man wore a long white coat and had a peculiar-looking instrument around his neck.

"I see we're awake," he said to Anne. "How do we feel?"

Anne, insulted by his condescending manner, just glared at him. Not discouraged in the least, the doctor performed a cursory exam on her. "Everything seems to be fine, physically." He looked straight into Anne's eyes. "Can you tell me what day it is?"

"Why, it's the nineteenth of May, of course!"

The man nodded. "What year?"

"The year of our Lord fifteen thirty-six!" Why all the questions?

The doctor exchanged a meaningful glance with Henry, then turned back to Anne. "Why don't you tell me why you believe it's fifteen thirty-six."

"I know that it is!" What in the world was wrong with this man?

The doctor left and returned a short time later with another man who was dressed very similarly except without the white coat.

"Hello," he said pleasantly. "So this is fifteen thirty-six, is it?"

"Of course! Why do you people persist in asking me all these inane questions?"

The man took an object from his shirt pocket and handed it to Anne. It was long and slender, and black in color. It was about the size and shape of a small stick but was made of a strange material.

"Can you tell me what this is, and show me how it's used?"

Anne slowly turned the object around in her hands for a minute or so, then shook her head and handed it back to the man.

"Have you ever seen one of these before?" The man indicated the strange instrument around the doctor's neck. Anne shook her head. The man asked her to indentify several more random objects, none of which she was familiar with in the slightest. At last he sighed deeply. "It appears that we _do _have a problem," he said.

"The only problem is that I want to go home to my baby, yet you persist in keeping me here against my will and showing me unworldly objects and asking absurd questions!" Tears of frustration filled Anne's eyes. Henry came to her and tried to put a comforting arm around her, but she pushed him away.

"If you truly are my husband Henry VIII, then this is all your doing! It was you who sentenced me to death! I wouldn't be in this strange place if not for you!"

"Henry VIII?" Henry was taken aback. "Wait a minute...say, wasn't he that fellow who had all his wives decapitated because none of them could give him a son?"

Tears streamed down Anne's cheeks as she shook her head. "Only me," she said quietly.


	3. Elizabeth

"Anne, my darling!" Henry put his arms around his wife and held her closely to himself. "I'd never do that to you! Don't you realize how much I love you? I'd sooner have my own head cut off than yours!"

Anne pulled back from him and stared at him, flabbergasted. Surely Henry had taken leave of his senses. The Henry she had known would have never made a statement like that in a million years.

Henry's eyes met her own, and in them she saw an expression she had never seen before. It not only fascinated her but brought her tremendous comfort.

"Sweetheart," Henry said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I don't understand what's happened, but we'll get through this together, okay?"

Anne nodded. "I want to see Elizabeth," she repeated.

"I know you do," Henry said softly. "But first we have to convince these people that you really are all right now."

* * *

><p>As she was a fast learner, Anne quickly learned the names and functions of common household items. After that, it was simply a matter of learning the correct answers to all the questions. Not necessarily the truthful ones, but the ones the doctors and other specialists expected to hear.<p>

"As you pose no danger to yourself nor to anyone else, we cannot keep you here against your will," the doctor finally told Anne. "I do highly recommend follow up with a psychiatrist, however."

Anne neither knew nor cared what a psychiatrist was. The only thing on her mind was that at last she was going to get to go home to see Elizabeth.

Henry and Anne walked hand in hand down the corridor to the outside of the hospital, where Henry told Anne to wait for him on the sidewalk.

"There's no point in both of us walking all the way to where the car is parked," he said. "I'll just pull the car around and pick you up here."

Anne understood almost nothing of what he had just told her but didn't say anything. She obediently waited in the spot where he had told her to stand, and within a few minutes he arrived in the strangest carriage she had ever seen. It was made of a shiny looking material and was completely enclosed with windows all around. The strangest thing about it was that it appeared to move of its own accord, as she saw no horses pulling it.

Henry got out and went around and opened the door for her, and she climbed in and sat down in what was probably the most comfortable seat she had ever sat in. It seemed to be cushioned as if with hidden pillows. Henry returned to his own seat and the carriage began to move again.

Anne watched, fascinated, as objects outside seemed to literally fly by. Although, after all, wouldn't it make sense that a carriage pulled by invisible horses would also go alarmingly fast?

At last the carriage stopped outside a small house similar to those peasants dwelled in. It was made of bricks and looked sturdily built although it was quite small by comparison to a castle, and it looked ever so much nicer than any other peasant's cottage Anne had ever seen.

Henry got out and walked around and opened the door on Anne's side, and both of them walked to the house.

"Is this where Elizabeth is?" asked Anne.

"Yes, of course. This is our home," Henry told her. "My mother has been babysitting her while you've been in the hospital."

Henry touched a button that caused a bell to chime, and a middle-aged woman opened the door to the house. She looked at Anne with concern. "Are you all right, sweetheart?" she asked.

"I feel fine! Where's Elizabeth?" Anne didn't mean to sound harsh, but she was having a very difficult time hiding her eagerness.

"Mommy!" Anne heard the precious little voice that she had been sure she would never hear again, and a split second later the little girl was in her arms. She clung to her daughter with all her might, burying her face in Elizabeth's hair.

"I've missed you so much, my angel!" she murmured, tears of happiness moistening her cheeks. "I thought that I would never see you again!"

"I missed you too, Mommy!" Within seconds, Elizabeth was wriggling impatiently within her mother's grasp, and Anne reluctantly loosened her grip so that the little girl could stand. "I drew you a picture. Want to see it?"

"Of course, sweetheart."

Elizabeth danced across the floor to a table and returned with a piece of paper on which she had made marks with what looked like a type of colored wax.

"It's a doggy, Mommy! See? This is his ears, and this is his tail!"

"It's lovely, sweetheart," was all Anne could say. She picked Elizabeth up again and kissed her cheek.

"I love you _so _much, Elizabeth," she said softly.

"I love you too, Mommy," Elizabeth said.

"And I love both my beautiful girls." Henry's arms encircled them both in a big bear hug. Anne stiffened at first, then relaxed into the embrace.


	4. Not Alone Anymore

"Why don't you two spend some time together while I fix us some lunch," Henry suggested. Anne was shocked all over again. A man in the kitchen?

Henry prepared sandwiches, and the three of them sat down at the table. Elizabeth chattered endlessly about someone named Barney and someone named Elmo. Anne asked where she knew them from.

"I watch them every day on TV!" Elizabeth said.

Anne had learned about television while in the hospital but had never actually watched it.

"Want to watch my Strawberry Shortcake movie with me, Mommy?" Elizabeth asked after lunch.

Anne had never seen a movie, of course, but had quickly learned that to admit to such would be a mistake. "I'd love to, sweetheart," she told her daughter.

Henry put the movie in the DVD player, and Anne sat on the sofa with Elizabeth in her lap to watch it. Unable to quite comprehend the actions and words of the moving drawn figures that seemed to comprise the movie, just to be able to hold Elizabeth in her arms again was sheer heaven for Anne. She wished that she could just sit holding her daughter for the rest of the day and was disappointed when the movie ended and Elizabeth jumped out of her arms and wanted to do something else.

"I'll just order Asian take-out for dinner," Henry told Anne later. She had no idea what he was talking about but said nothing. When it arrived, Anne found that the food was totally unfamiliar but quite tasty.

Later, Anne read a story to Elizabeth and tucked her into her little bed, then joined Henry in the other bedroom.

"Am I to share your bed once more then?" she asked.

Henry looked hurt. "Don't you want to?" he asked softly.

In bed, he reached for her, and she didn't resist. It was totally different from anything she had ever experienced before. He was gentle and loving, and seemed as concerned for her pleasure as for his own. Afterwards, she cried and he held her. It was not from sadness that she cried, but from some other emotion which she couldn't identify. She went to sleep cradled in his arms with her head resting on his shoulder.

The next day was Saturday, and the weather was gorgeous. The rains of April had passed weeks ago, and while the full heat of summer wasn't quite upon them yet, it was quickly approaching. Henry suggested taking Elizabeth to the park, and Anne was happy for a chance to spend time outdoors. Anne pushed Elizabeth on a swing, and listened to her joyous shouts as she slid down the slide.

When they were ready to leave the park, Henry wasn't able to get the car started. While he went in search of someone with 'jumper cables', whatever those were, Anne took Elizabeth walking in the park again.

* * *

><p>She saw him sitting on a bench looking bewildered and lost, absently watching birds descend and then take off again. He saw her and his face lit up with joy.<p>

"Anne!"

"George!"

They raced toward one another and embraced warmly. Elizabeth saw him too and squealed with delight. George scooped the little girl up into his arms.

"What a big girl you're getting to be! You look more like your mother every time I see you!"

"I can see traces of you in her too, George," Anne told him.

His eyes widened. "Really?"

She nodded.

George looked concerned now. "How are you, Anne? Has he hurt you any more?"

"On the contrary, he's been very kind to me. It's as if he's a totally different person now. How have you been, George?"

He shrugged helplessly. "It's just so difficult to get used to...things being so different now."

"I know," Anne said softly. "They kept me in the hospital for a long time. They thought that there was something wrong with my mind."

"They thought the same about me. They told me that the things I said couldn't possibly be true." He gently took her hand. His touch was entirely innocent, as it had always been. "But I know who I am, and I know who you are."

"My poor, dear George! I at least have Elizabeth with me, while you have no one. You're all alone in this strange new world."

"I'm not alone anymore. I have you now, and you have me. We have each other." A look of abject fear crossed his face. "I must take my leave. Please take care of yourself and Elizabeth, Anne. I hope to see you again soon." He slipped something into her hand and was quickly gone.

Puzzled by his behavior, Anne glanced around and saw Henry approaching with another man who was carrying what she assumed to be the jumper cables Henry had spoken of.

"Who _was _that guy?"

Anne frowned. "I know no one named Guy."

Henry looked exasperated. "The man I saw you talking with less than five minutes ago. Who is he?"

"Why, he's my brother, of course!"

"Your..._brother?_ Anne, why did you never tell me you had a brother?"

_There was never any need for me to have done so, as he died by your hand as well..._


	5. Revelations

On the way back home, Henry gave serious thought to this new development. Anne had never discussed her family with him, and he had never asked her about them, as he had feared that it might be a painful subject for her. As she had never mentioned having had siblings, he had always assumed her to have been an only child. However, since the head injury that had changed their lives so drastically, he realized that he was in totally unfamiliar territory now. Did she indeed have a brother, and had the man in the park reminded her of him?

"What's your brother's name, Anne?"

"It's George, of course!" She sounded as if she didn't understand why he didn't already know that.

"So tell me about George. What became of him?"

"He was put to death two days before I was, as he had been accused of having sexual relations with me. Four other innocent men met the same fate."

Henry was shocked. "Geez, Anne, that's really sick!"

"Indeed it is. The very thought of it turns my stomach."

"And the man you met in the park reminded you of George?"

"The man in the park _was _George."

Henry had to stop at the bank briefly.

"There's no point in both of us going in. Would you like for me to leave the radio on for you?"

"Please do. I love music." Her mind was on poor Mark Smeaton. He had been so young, only twenty-four years old.

A song came on that caught Anne's attention, and she turned the volume up.

_There's a place for us  
>Somewhere, a place for us<br>Peace and quiet and open air  
>Wait for us, somewhere...<em>

_There's a time for us  
>Someday there'll be a time for us<br>Time together with time to share  
>Time to learn, time to care...<em>

_Someday...somewhere...  
>We'll find a new way of living<br>We'll find a way of forgiving  
>Somewhere...<em>

_There's a place for us  
>A time and place for us<br>Hold my hand and we're halfway there  
>Hold my hand and I'll take you there<br>Someday...somehow...somewhere..._

The song was still playing when Henry returned to the car.

"Listen to this. Isn't it beautiful?" Anne said before he could say anything.

When the song ended, Henry grinned. "It's from a movie called 'West Side Story.' It's really good. I'll rent it for us sometime."

* * *

><p>Anne knew that it wouldn't do at all to open the tightly folded piece of paper George had given her in Henry's presence. As soon as Henry and Elizabeth were both otherwise occupied, she opened it and read its message.<p>

_My Dearest Anne,_

_You know as well as I do that we are both completely innocent of the unnatural acts of which we were accused. Indeed, I refuse to accept that you ever betrayed him in any way, with anyone. I also know that you are no witch. I went to my death convinced of all of this, yet forced to bend to the will of my own brother-in-law, who wished the deaths of six innocent people so that he would be free to marry Jane Seymour. I truly do not comprehend this peculiar afterlife in which I have found you once again. I know that it is not the heaven we were always taught to believe in, but neither does it seem to be the nether regions we were taught to fear. Please remember, dear Anne, that although our circumstances have so drastically changed, I still love you as much as I ever did, and I am always here for you if you ever need me. Whatever happens henceforth, I hope that you can take comfort in that._

_Your loving brother,_

_George_

With tears in her eyes, Anne re-folded George's letter and deposited it in a secure place for safe-keeping.

* * *

><p>That night, Henry was plagued with recurrent nightmares. He would awaken from one only to return to sleep to experience another. Unlike the surrealistic quality of most dreams, these were very vivid, very real. They were as he imagined the flashbacks suffered by war veterans with PTSD must be like.<p>

Finally, he gave up on sleep, went into the den, switched his computer on, and looked up Henry VIII on Wikipedia. Shocked and dismayed, he had to read the article through several times before he could accept it as being really true. Next, he looked up Ann Boleyn and read that entire article as well. When he was finished reading, he put his head down on the desk and sobbed for several hours. After all, what else could he do?

When there were no more tears left, he made his way back to the bedroom and stood in the doorway for a long time, just watching her sleep. To him she looked as fragile and helpless as a wounded bird. He felt an overwhelming desire to protect her, to shield her from further harm.

Quietly, so as not to awaken her, he returned to bed. He felt her shift in her sleep, and one arm fell over his body.

"Henry?"

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to awaken you."

"Is everything all right?"

"Anne, my love, I am just so very, very sorry. I had no right...no right at all..." He could barely get the words out.

"You finally remembered, didn't you?" she asked slowly, amazed.

Unable to say more, he simply nodded.

Anne touched his face and felt how wet with tears it was. She thought of the words of the song, of how they had spoken of finding a way of forgiving. "It's all right, Henry. You did what you thought was best under the circumstances, as we all do."

He looked away. "I did what I thought was best for myself. I wasn't thinking at all about how many people I was hurting, only about what I wanted," he said gruffly.

Anne gently touched his arm. "But you're not the same person now, Henry. You've changed, and I have too."

He turned back to look at her with eyes that were still full of pain.

"I'm alive now, Henry. I'm alive and well, and I still have my head. See?" She switched on the bedside lamp, and his eyes, sore from all the crying, blinked.

"It's all right now, Henry, and it's going to stay that way, I promise." It struck her how ironic it was that she was the one comforting him and not the other way around.

"Shouldn't I be the one doing the promising?" He still sounded insecure.

"Perhaps, but it doesn't really matter. Come back to bed, Henry. It'll seem better in the morning."

Within moments they both were asleep, holding one another tightly. Henry didn't have any more nightmares for the rest of the night.


	6. More Surprises

**Two Months Later**

"Congratulations, Anne. Your pregnancy test is positive," the doctor said with a smile.

Anne wondered how Henry would take the news. She hoped that he would be happy.

"There is, however, a problem." The doctor's face looked grave. Anne felt her heart sink.

"Most people have a substance in their blood called the Rh factor. However, your blood doesn't have that factor. It usually isn't a problem except when a woman whose blood doesn't have the Rh factor becomes pregnant. If the baby's blood _does _have the Rh factor, inherited from its father, then the mother's body may form antibodies that destroy the baby's blood. I think that may have been what caused your last three pregnancies to end in miscarriages. The first pregnancy is usually not affected, which is why your first pregnancy and delivery were normal."

"We will check your husband's blood to see whether or not he has the Rh factor. If he doesn't, then there's nothing to worry about, as the baby won't either. However, if he does, we will have to take certain steps for the sake of your baby's health. I will order a blood test for you, the indirect Coomb's test, about halfway through your pregnancy, and if the result is positive, I will give you a shot to protect your baby. I will also induce your labor several weeks before your due date, again for your baby's protection."

"Do you mean that this time my baby can be saved after all?"

"Absolutely, as long as the proper precautions are taken." The doctor smiled warmly and patted Anne's shoulder. With the doctor's words still resounding in her mind, she went to the lobby to tell Henry.

Henry looked up inquiringly as she entered the lobby.

"I'm pregnant," Anne told him.

"That's great, honey!" Henry grinned from ear to ear at first, then noticed the expression on Anne's face and suddenly looked concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"They're going to have to test your blood too."

Henry was completely baffled. "_My _blood? Why?"

"The doctor thinks that you might have something in your blood that I don't have in mine, and if the baby has it too then it might get sick. It's called..." Try as she might, she simply couldn't remember the name of the substance.

"Rh factor?" Henry asked.

"That's it!" _How in the world had he known?_

"I've heard of that before. Everything will be fine as long as you do everything the doctor tells you to."

Anne was flooded with relief. She had been so afraid that Henry would become angry when she told him that there could be a problem with the pregnancy. She had remembered his reaction to the previous miscarriages and quaked with fear.

"I think this calls for a celebration," Henry said as they walked back out to the car. Henry had been giving Anne driving lessons, but she still didn't feel competent enough to take the test to get her license. Henry had taken off work to drive her to her doctor's appointment.

"Guess what, Elizabeth? You're going to have a new baby brother in a few months!" she told her daughter, who had come along with them.

"Or sister," Henry added.

"But isn't it important that the next child be a son?"

"Not particularly. All that really matters to me is that he or she is healthy."

Once again, Anne was simply dumbfounded at the changes in her husband.

Henry took her to a fancy restaurant that even had a violinist performing that night. Anne's heart almost stopped when she saw who the violinist was. He saw her at the same time she saw him and his eyebrows went up in surprise. She wondered whether or not Henry recognized him.

They were seated and waiting for their meals to arrive when the violinist finished his piece and walked over to their table.

"I'm so sorry. I don't mean to be improper, but when I saw that it was you, I just had to come over and say hello." His eyes stayed on Anne's face and carefully avoided Henry.

"It's perfectly all right, Mark. I'm glad you did, as I'm very happy to see you as well." Anne smiled warmly at him, and he looked relieved, although he was still careful to avoid looking at Henry.

"It's all right, Mark. He's not the person you think he is." _Not anymore._

Mark finally looked at Henry and smiled weakly. "Hello."

"How do you do." Henry gave him a friendly smile. "You do play the violin beautifully, young man."

"Thank you very much, sir. Mark laughed nervously. "Speaking of which, I'd best get back to performing before the other customers start wondering what happened to the music."

"One of the five?" Henry whispered to Anne when Mark had left. She nodded slightly, and he turned a bit pale.

"Oh dear God..."

"It's all right now, Henry. It doesn't matter any more." Anne patted his hand reassuringly. As they ate she continued to watch Mark Smeaton, wondering how well he was dealing with the adjustment, whether or not he had anyone to help him along, pleased for him that he had at least found employment in his specialty.

She also thought of George, how badly she wanted to tell him that he was to be an uncle again. His contact information was on the letter he had given her in the park. She resolved to speak to him as soon as possible.


	7. Arthur And Katherine

_A/N: I hope that no one minds that I changed history slightly by making Mary the daughter of Arthur and Katherine rather than the daughter of Henry and Katherine._

"To be honest, I don't know what to say," George said when she told him the news. "I would congratulate you, but I fear how he may react should you miscarry again."

"The doctor says that he has found the cause of the previous miscarriages and that it is treatable now, so this child may be saved," Anne told him. "Also, Henry really is a different person now. You should have seen how heartbroken he was when he finally remembered what had happened before. I saw that his sorrow was sincere, and I...I forgave him that night, George. For everything. And he's been nothing but kind to me ever since...ever since...well, you know. He even told me that it doesn't matter to him whether this baby is a boy or a girl as long as it's healthy."

"That doesn't sound like him at all," George admitted.

"Like I said, he's changed."

"You be careful, Anne. I can see that he's got you convinced that everything's going to be fine now, but I...I worry about you, little sister. I couldn't bear to see you hurt again."

"I love you, dear George. And I really believe that it's going to be all right this time."

"I do hope you're right."

"I saw Mark, George. He's playing violin at the restaurant Henry and I ate at yesterday."

_"Really? _How is he?"

"He seems to be all right. I wasn't able to talk to him very long."

"I would so dearly love to see him again. He was..._is..._such a good friend."

"I'm sure he would love to see you again as well."

* * *

><p>"We're going to visit my brother Arthur and his family," Henry told Anne one night. "Do you remember them?"<p>

"I'm not sure..."

"His wife's name is Katherine, and they have a twenty-year-old daughter, Mary. She was planning to become a nun until she fell in love with Philip and they got engaged. Now she's studying religion at university."

Anne's mind was immediately flooded with images: a demure, prayerful, dark-faced woman who seemed to live in the shadows, a spiteful young girl who never missed an opportunity to let it be known how much she hated Anne, however excellent her reasons for doing so might have been.

"Oh, yes," Anne said quietly.

Arthur proved to be tall and slender, with a milder and more serious demeanor than his younger brother Henry. Katherine was in most ways radically different from the woman of Anne's memory; she looked much the same, but she seemed upbeat and energetic rather than weary, sad, and resigned.

"It's lovely to see you again, Anne," she said with only the slightest hint of a Spanish accent. "I do hope you've completely recovered from your head injury. We've all been so concerned about you."

"I'm doing well, thank you very much," said Anne.

"Uncle Henry and Aunt Anne!" Suddenly Mary was there, smiling and hugging them. Anne was almost too startled to respond. "How have you been? I see you, Elizabeth!"

The little girl playfully tried to hide from her older cousin, but Mary found her and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Great news," Henry announced. "We're going to have a baby in a few months!"

"Congratulations to you both!" Arthur grinned widely.

"How about that, Elizabeth? You're going to be a big sister!" Mary told her young cousin, who giggled in response.

"I do hope that everything goes all right this time." Katherine looked slightly worried.

"The doctor says that everything is fine so far," Anne assured her.

Later on, Arthur motioned with his eyes for Anne to join him in the kitchen. "Is everything really all right?" he asked her in a voice that was almost a whisper.

"Everything's fine." Anne frowned, puzzled. Had she known him from before?

"You let me know if he gives you any trouble, all right? I'm here now, and I can keep him in line for you."

Anne found the idea of anyone 'keeping Henry in line' perfectly laughable.

"Are you all right, Arthur?" she asked him.

"I'm doing very well, Anne." He smiled gently. "Adulthood is amazing, marriage is wonderful, and fatherhood can't be beat."

Suddenly Anne understood. She squeezed his hand comfortingly. "I'm so glad that things are going well for you, Arthur."

"Well, that was nice," Henry said to Anne in the car on the way home.

"They're such lovely people," she replied.

"Of course they are. They always have been."


	8. The Accident Part One

"Your husband has been seriously injured. You must come immediately."

Anne felt herself grow weak and almost dropped the telephone receiver. The hospital had given her few details of Henry's accident, only stressing the urgency of the matter.

Anne left Elizabeth with Shannon, the woman who lived next door and with whom she had become good friends. Shannon had a son, Bryce, who was the same age as Elizabeth, and the two children played together often. Shannon was very concerned and offered to drive Anne to the hospital. Not trusting her driving skills in the emotional state that she was in, Anne accepted her offer.

At the hospital, Anne was able to learn more of the details of the accident. Henry had been on his way home from work when another car had run a red light and broadsided him. The car had been totaled, and Henry had suffered several broken ribs and a concussion. He was in the ICU, and the medical personnel were trying to get his vital signs stabilized before doing a cat scan to determine how much, if any, brain damage he had suffered.

"Can I see him?" Anne asked. A nurse led her down a hallway and into a large room that was partitioned into a number of smaller enclosures that were each surrounded by drapes.

On a bed in one of the smaller enclosures lay Henry. His head and chest were bandaged, and there was a needle in his arm, just as there had been in Anne's. Except for his deathly palor, he looked much as if he were merely sleeping.

"Can he hear me?" Anne asked.

"Possibly, but he is unconscious and so cannot respond."

"For how much longer will he be unconscious?"

"No one knows. Once we have determined the extent of brain damage we will be in a much better position to answer that question."

"But he _will _eventually wake up, won't he?"

"It's too soon to tell whether he will or not. I'm very sorry."

"Henry...oh, Henry..." Anne collapsed into tears. Things had been going so well. Her pregnancy was progressing normally, and they were both so excited about the new addition to their family. Now it looked as if Anne may have to deliver her second child and raise both children alone.

Suddenly Anne was gripped by a powerful tightness across the abdomen. _Oh no..._

"Are you all right, ma'am?" asked a nurse.

"I think I'm losing the baby..." Anne groaned.

The nurses lost no time in seating her in a wheelchair and rushing her straight to the obstetrics department, where she was immediately put to bed and hooked up to a monitor.

"Yes, you are having premature contractions," the physician told her. "You must remain on total bed rest, and we will give you medication to stop the contractions."

"Do you mean to say that there is now medication to prevent babies from coming too early?"

The physician was baffled. "It's been available for a number of years now, ma'am."

"May I please call my brother?"

"Of course you may."

The nurse handed the telephone to Anne, and she immediately called George, praying that he was home and near the phone.

"Hello?" _Thank you, Lord, _Anne prayed when she heard her brother's voice.

"George, I'm in the hospital. Henry has been seriously injured and is in intensive care. When I saw him I started having premature contractions, and they put me on bed rest and are giving me medication to stop the contractions."

"Oh no, Anne...where's Elizabeth?"

"I left her with Shannon, the neighbor I told you about."

"Oh, Annie." George sounded as if he might cry. "Please stay strong, my dear sister. I'll be there just as quickly as I can."

Anne didn't want to put the receiver down, wanted to somehow hang onto his comforting words, the warmth in his voice. As she lay and waited, she pictured George in her mind, his kind brown eyes, his easy smile, the way seeing him always brightened her day, no matter what.

Anne had almost drifted off to sleep when she heard footsteps and opened her eyes to see George and, to her surprise, Mark, as well.

"My darling Anne," George said softly. He reached for her, and she clung to him tightly.

"It's all right, Annie. Everything's going to be all right." As his strong arms embraced her and she buried her face in his shoulder, his words came true for her.


	9. The Accident Part Two

Anne let George just hold her for a few minutes, relishing the sensation of his hand gently massaging her back. Then she looked at Mark.

"Mark! It was so good of you to come."

"Of course I came, Anne. You've always been so kind to me, how could I not have?" He quickly hugged and kissed Anne as well.

"So what happened to Henry?" asked George.

"Another car ran a red light and hit him. He has a concussion and some broken ribs. He's unconscious, and they don't know yet whether or not he'll ever wake up." A sob caught in Anne's throat. George's hand reached to cover hers.

"This happened before, and he woke up the other time," George said softly.

"But what if he doesn't wake up this time?"

"We'll just have to deal with it. Remember, you'll always have me. I'll always be here for you, Anne, no matter what."

"As will I," added Mark.

"I love you both so very much. I don't know what I would do without either one of you." There were tears in Anne's eyes as she embraced her brother and friend once again.

"Your brother sure is nice looking," commented a nurse after George and Mark had left. "Is he married?"

Anne glanced at the nurse's name tag. It said 'Jane Parker.'

"He's engaged," Anne lied.

* * *

><p>Several days later, a nurse brought Anne exciting news.<p>

"Your husband is awake, and he wants to see you," she said.

"Will you please take me to him?"

"You haven't had any more contractions since we administered the medication, and your baby's vital signs are good, so a short visit would be acceptable as long as you don't get overly upset."

The nurse unhooked Anne from all the wires and monitors, helped her into a wheelchair, and wheeled her to intensive care, where Henry still lay on his back in bed, his eyes wide and frightened.

"Anne!" he exclaimed when he saw her.

"Hello, Henry," Anne said awkwardly.

"Is the baby all right?"

"Yes, everything's fine."

"Elizabeth?"

"She's fine too. She's with Shannon."

"He tried to come back." Henry's voice was almost a whisper, and Anne could see the fear in his eyes.

"Who did?"

"The other Henry. The other me."

Anne gasped, horrified.

"He tried to come back, but I wouldn't let him." Henry's voice was stronger now. "He said that the baby you're carrying was his son, that he had been unjustly deprived of having a son with you before and that he deserved the chance to do so now. I told him that he had already had his chance with you more than four hundred years ago and thrown it away, that it was my turn now and that I would rather neither one of us came back at all than for him to come back and ruin your life a second time. 'You wouldn't dare,' he said. 'Oh, yes, I would. I'd honestly rather die than to allow you back into Anne's life,' I told him. That was when I woke up."

Anne was at first too overwhelmed to say a word. She finally realized that the man she was married to now wasn't the same man who had sentenced her to die before. That the man she was married to now loved her so much that he was willing to die for her sake. Slowly she reached for his hand, and he clasped it firmly as he looked tenderly into her eyes.

"I love you, Henry." Big tears fell from her eyes and dropped onto the sheet covering him.

"I love you too, Anne." He reached to touch her face, and a moment later, they were locked in a tight embrace.

"George and Mark were here earlier," she told him. "I called George and told him what had happened. They were both very concerned about me."

"Do you think...do you think that they would want to see me?"

"I feel sure that they would, if I explained it all to them."

"Do you think they would believe you?"

"I don't know. But it's worth a try."


	10. After All This Time

"It seems unnatural to me for a physician to determine when a child is to be born," Anne said. "I've always believed that such matters were best left up to God."

"Darling, you know that this is necessary to lessen the risk of the Rh antibodies becoming a problem," Henry said. He had quickly recovered from the injuries he had suffered in the accident, and the only reminder he had was a slight scar that only showed when his hair had been newly cut.

"I know. But I'm still afraid."

"Everything's going to be just fine, sweetheart. You're in the best of hands, and I'm right here beside you."

Anne gazed around at the various medical appliances and thought about how very different this baby's birth would be from that of Elizabeth's. For that birth, there had been no equipment, no physician, and no Henry, only a midwife.

The physician arrived to start Anne's I.V., and she grimaced as the needle pierced her arm. She was having a very difficult time getting used to the presence of a needle in one's arm being a routine part of health care. Blood pressure cuffs and thermometers seemed strange as well, but at least they drew no blood.

A short time later, Anne's contractions began, and she and Henry practiced the breathing techniques they had learned in prepared childbirth classes.

That was another thing Anne had found very strange.

"How silly it seems to teach women how to have babies, when that's been happening since the days of Adam and Eve," she had said.

Henry had laughed. "That's not exactly what the classes are for. They're to teach you how to relax during the process of giving birth so that it will be less painful for you."

Now that her contractions had truly begun, Anne was thankful that she had learned the breathing exercises and wished that they had been taught when she had been pregnant with Elizabeth.

Occasionally a nurse would come in the room and check Anne's progress and ask how she was doing. Anne always replied that she was fine. This time around, labor did seem a bit more comfortable, but as the morning wore on, the contractions became more intense. Anne panicked and forgot the breathing exercises, and Henry had to help her with them.

At last the physician told Anne that it was time for her to push the baby out. Anne bore down with all her might and was disappointed when she didn't feel anything emerge.

"You're doing really well. Just a few more pushes," the physician told her.

"I can see the baby's head!" Henry exclaimed after a few more pushes. The physician helpfully placed a mirror where Anne could see the baby's head as well. It was covered with fine, dark hair, just as Elizabeth's had been at birth.

Several more pushes, and their son Jonathan Henry entered the world.

"I have a son!" Tears of joy rolled down Henry's face as he held the newborn.

"After all this time, Henry..." Anne was so overwhelmed with emotion that she could hardly speak. "After all this time, I was finally able to give you what you wanted more than anything else in the world."

"Oh, Anne, my darling!" Henry laid little Jonathan in his mother's arms, then embraced Anne and showered her with kisses. "I love you so very much! More than I ever dreamed possible. Yet I would love you no less if he had been another girl."

"Do you really mean that, Henry?"

"I mean it with all my heart, Anne."

Anne looked into Jonathan's dark blue eyes, felt his soft lips nuzzle her, seeking sustenance. _My savior. This time I didn't miscarry him. _Then she realized that things were truly different now, that her own life hadn't truly depended on Jonathan's survival, that the Henry she was married to now truly did love her, that he would always love her, no matter what happened.


End file.
